Spec. Edition: Flawless Activation but No Presets

[bsafir]

I just went through the process of registering, activating, and installing the library for Special Edition. I was very excited because this is my first VSL product.

I saw the library load - it took a couple of hours. However, when I bring up the player in Logic Pro7, there are NO PRESETS, EVEN AFTER PRESSING ENTER or DOUBLE-CLICKING. The external drive has a folder "100 SpecialEdition," and there there are .dat files within it.

What could have happened? Is there a way to get S.E. to see the files? Sorry for such a basic question, but I did follow the instructions to the letter. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

-Bob

Dual 1.42 Ghz Mac G4, 2Gb memory, Two external Seagate drives, Mac OSX 10.4.8, and Logic Pro 7.21

[Paul]

Hi Bob,

and welcome [:)]

please assign your content in your Directory Manager, so that the Vienna Instruments can see where to look for the data [:)]

After a restart, find the Vienna Instruments Directory Manager in your "Applications" folder, launch it, open a Finder and drag your Special Edition folder into the Directory Manager. You will also find a Video Tutorial that explains the Directory Manager in detail on your Software CD [:)]

Best,

Paul

[bsafir]

Paul,
I watched the video tutorial and followed the instructions. After rebooting and using the Directory Manager and adding the '100 Special Edition' folder (both by drag-and-drop and by using the 'Add folder' command, there has been no change!

No presets. No instrumemts. No sound.

What can I try now?

-Bob

[Paul]

Hi Bob,

I hope you didn´t open the Vienna Instruments before you assigned the content in the Directory Manager..... you need to assign new folders before you start the VI´s after a restart!

Any error messages coming up?

We´ll make that work for sure!

Thanks for your patience!

Best,

Paul

[cm]

some additional considerations:
- has the location for your custom presets been set and has the folder it is pointing to read & write permissions?
- does the stand-alone player open and show the presets?
- if yes try to run AU validation from the respective logic menu manually.
if no please re-install the vienna instruments software (after a reboot!) and make sure you have downloaded the version for PPC (since you mention a G4)
christian

[bsafir]

Yes, I assigned content before opening VI. Also...

some additional considerations:

- has the location for your custom presets been set and has the folder it is pointing to read & write permissions?

Yes...

- does the stand-alone player open and show the presets?

Where exactly is the stand-alone player located? I see the dat files, but I do not see the stand-alone player...

- if yes try to run AU validation from the respective logic menu manually.
if no please re-install the vienna instruments software (after a reboot!) and make sure you have downloaded the version for PPC (since you mention a G4)

I did run the AU validation yesterday and it came up okay. If I end up having to do a re-install, do I need to go through an un-install procedure first, or just remove the '100 Special Edition' folder? Also, will it need to be re-activated again?
-Bob

[Maya]

Hi Bob,

I already answered your mailsupport request and I´d suggest to discuss your installation problems either in our forum OR via mail, otherwise it gets confusing.

Best regards,

Maya

[bsafir]

Maya,

Yes, I understand and don't want anyone else to be confused, so I will keep the thread going here in the forum.

I have done everything recommended above with no result. (I have also done everything recommended in your support e-mail.) The stand-alone player does NOT show any instruments/presets when booted up after the above procedures.

I need to know if it's time to consider a re-install, and if so:
- whether there is a procedure for this
- or do I just bring the "100 Special Edition" folder to the trash
- whether or not I will need to go through the re-authorization, re-activation procedure again

I have tried everything else to no avail, and though time-consuming, I am willing to do a re-install if it will fix the problem.

Please advise...thanks...

[Maya]

Please have a look at our tutorial video <Register & Install> in the user area:

http://www.vsl.co.at/de-at/68/375/243.vsl

Did you install the content to your hard disk drive as explained in this video?

I already send you a reinstallation guide if necessary. I hope that helps to solve the problem.

Best,

[bsafir]

I viewed this video before I began the installation yesterday. The only thing I may have missed was using the Directory Manager, which, as you know, we've tried several times since then. Please send me the re-install guide.

[bsafir]

I went through the de-installation process precisely. I then began re-installation, following the instructions exactly.

During re-installation (after approximately 45 minutes), while Disc #3 data was being installed, everything came to a stop and this message came on-screen:

Cannot complete Installation
File was Corrupt?

After investing close to four hours to install VI Spec. Edition, I am in need of some real assistance to solve this problem, whether you send me new discs, or some other timely remedy. Please help.

[Conquer]

Hi Bob, sorry to hear you're having these hassles. I've encountered similar disk-reading problems while installing VSL collections - best just to try again till it works. I think disk drives sometimes overheat, so make sure the computer is well-ventilated.

If a file really was corrupt the installation would hang at the same point every time, it's probably just a one-off reading glitch.

[bsafir]

Thanks for the input and sorry to hear you had problems too. But going through hours and hours of installation is not acceptable to me...I would have thought that VI would set a higher standard for ease-of-installaton.

[bsafir]

Oh, and I meant to add that this is being done on a Seagate external drive, well-ventillated, at a room temperature of around 68 degrees. BTW, how many tries did it take until you were successful?

[cm]

iwould recommend to use another DVD drive - your's seems to be used for a while and some older model (we also have often troubles with mirror door G4s and/or older superdrive models). they mostly just loose track and OS X doesn't tell if the error is based on a CRC reading error or something else - it actually copies corrupted data.

another issue often noticed is bad RAM, which turns up to be problematic after a while of copying or loading.

i don't think we have an answer on the question if the drive / DVD gets unusual hot - you can copy (carefully, possibly with some breaks) tthe installation files to a location on your harddisk and run the install from there.

if the message comes up *corrup file* copy and overwrite the .cab-file where the message appeared (the error says wrongly that package.info would be corrupt, whereas in effect it is the copied .cab-file)
christian

[Conquer]

>BTW, how many tries did it take until you were successful?

I was having problems last summer when it was unusually hot - it sometimes took two or three attempts to install a VI collection. In the end the problem got more and more severe and eventually it became clear my PC's DVD drive was failing. I changed it and the problem has not occurred since.

Unfortunately when you're trying to install 80GB of data this kind of problem can be very time-consuming, but I doubt it's due to a fault in the VSL DVD's - however, if it is, I'm sure they will replace them.

[bsafir]

Moderator: Can you explain the last paragraph above to me? It doesn't seem to make sense:

"if the message comes up *corrup file* copy and overwrite the .cab-file where the message appeared (the error says wrongly that package.info would be corrupt, whereas in effect it is the copied .cab-file)"

Thank you,
Bob

[cm]

i'd say your DVD drive is loosing track after a while ... so an option would be to copy the files from the DVD to your harddisk ... but allow some time between the DVDs and/or files ... otherwise it will only appear the files are copied ok (no CRC error message will appear)

then run the install from the location on the harddisk (to which you have copied the files) ... possibly again the installer reports *couldn't read - file corrupt* ... look into the installer window at which .cab-file the installer stopped ... copy again this .cab-file from the DVD to the harddisk (the finder will ask you *overwrite yes/no* and of course you like to overwrite ... restart the installation then.

please consider most DVDs are double layer and are holding a huge amount of data. if your DVD shows significant scratches (what of course could happen, but is not very probable) the DVD itself might be the problem - otherwise it is your drive or RAM.

unfortunately this rather ocurres with large files/installs and you won't notice it probly when reading some CD or less data.
christian

[bsafir]

After copying the install discs to the hard drive, I tried an install from there.

It also didn't work.

Additionally, the corrupt file(s) is never the same. I have had the install fail at different points, sometimes within the first disc, sometimes the second, the third, or the fourth. So:

- We have already ruled out any problems with the DVD drive, right?

- If it were due to a particular file, wouldn't it always fail at the same file???

This is my fourth day of attempting to install VI S.E.

[Conquer]

@Another User said:

After copying the install discs to the hard drive, I tried an install from there. It also didn't work.

What happens? Do you get the same an error message as before?